The great strength of American capitalism is also its great weakness, namely, its extremely high weapons productivity. A number of factors have produced increases in productivity, like, the mechanization of the production process that got under way in England as early as the 18th century. In the early 20th century, then, American industrialists made a contribution in the form of automatiion. ..Amor Patriae
Sunday, May 29, 2022
A NEW PLATFORM FOR THE NEXT WAR
On March 9, 1862, the Union warship Monitormet its Confederate counterpart, Virginia. After a four-hour exchange of fire, the two fought to a draw. It was the first battle of ironclads. In one day, every wooden ship of the line of every naval power became immediately obsolete.
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. If the battle of the ironclads settled once and for all the wood-versus-iron debate, Japanese carrier-based aircraft settled the battleship-versus-carrier debate by sinking the cream of America’s battleship fleet in a single morning.
On April 14, 2022, the Ukrainians sank the Russian cruiser Moskva with a pair of Neptune anti-ship missiles. And that success posed an urgent question to the world’s major militaries: Has another age of warfare just begun? After 20 years spent fighting the post-9/11 wars, the United States military’s attention is again focused on a peer-level adversary. The Pentagon hasn’t been thinking this way since the Cold War, and it is attempting a profound transformation. Today, fierce debate attends this transformation, and nowhere more acutely than in the Marine Corps.
In March 2020, the Marine commandant, General David Berger, published “Force Design 2030.” This controversial paper announced a significant restructuring based on the belief that “the Marine Corps is not organized, trained, equipped or postured to meet the demands of the rapidly evolving future operating environment.” That “future operating environment” is an imagined war with China in the South Pacific—but in many ways, that hypothetical conflict resembles the real war in Ukraine.
The military we have—an army built around tanks, a navy built around ships, and an air force built around planes, all of which are technologically advanced and astronomically expensive—is platform-centric. So far, in Ukraine, the signature land weapon hasn’t been a tank but an anti-tank missile: the Javelin. The signature air weapon hasn’t been an aircraft, but an anti-air missile: the Stinger. And as the sinking of the Moskvashowed, the signature maritime weapon hasn’t been a ship but an anti-ship missile: the Neptune.
Berger believes a new age of war is upon us. In “Force Design 2030,” he puts the following sentence in bold: “We must acknowledge the impacts of proliferated precision long-range fires, mines, and other smart weapons, and seek innovative ways to overcome these threat capabilities.” The weapons General Berger refers to include the same family of anti-platform weapons Ukrainians are using to incinerate Russian tanks, shoot down Russian helicopters, and sink Russian warships. The successes against a platform-centric Russian Goliath by an anti-platform-centric Ukrainian David have elicited cheers in the West, but what we are witnessing in Ukraine may well be a prelude to the besting of our own American Goliath.
The flying ship is a ground effect vehicle (GEV) a vehicle that is designed to attain sustained flight over a level surface (usually over the sea), by making use of ground effect, the aerodynamic interaction between the wings and the surface. Among the best known are the Soviet ekranoplans, but names like wing-in-ground-effect (WIG), flarecraft, sea skimmer, or wing-in-surface-effect ship (WISE) are also used.
Carbon fibre planes: Lighter and stronger by design
Currently, Boeing's latest plane, the 787 Dreamliner uses composites for half of its airframe including the fuselage and wing, while Airbus's A350 XWB has both its fuselage and wings made of carbon fibre.
While the use of carbon fibre has allowed the creation of sweeping wing tips, which can cut fuel consumption by up to 5%, both aircraft are still fairly conventionally shaped.
Yet, the great advantage of using carbon fibre as opposed to traditional metal is that it gives designers much more freedom when trying to juggle the conflicting demands of aerodynamic efficiency, fuel savings and reducing engine noise.
So, the airliners of the future are likely to be radically different.
Such shapes could include blended wing designs, where the fuselage and wings merge into each other - like some military aircraft today.
Similar shape BWB plane burns 20 per cent less fuel than conventional aircraft and can carry more than 300 passengers
'Flying-V' was developed by the Delft Technical University in the Netherlands and KLM is funding the design
It has the same wingspan as existing planes and is named after the iconic Gibson Flying-V electric guitar
The aircraft would be able to carry up to 314 passengers in the V-shaped layout of the craft its designers claim
Passenger cabin, cargo hold and fuel tanks to be integrated in the design which uses 20 per cent less fuel
Dutch airline KLM are funding a pioneering aeronautical project which could see the shape and layout of commercial aeroplanes changed forever.
The stunning 'Flying-V' design, financially backed by KLM, has the same wingspan as existing planes and is able to carry up to 314 passengers.
It is named after the iconic Gibson Flying-V electric guitar used by a number of legendary players - from Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix, to Brian May and Keith Richards.
The concept craft, developed by researchers at Delft Technology University in the Netherlands, flares diagonally backwards from it nose to create the striking V-shape.
Its designers say this unique configuration uses 20 per cent less fuel. The wings would host the passenger space, cargo hold, fuel tanks and all other infrastructure, it is believed.
A stunning 'V-shaped' craft developed by researchers at Delft Technology University in the Netherlands has been financially backed by KLM
It has the wingspan of existing planes but is shaped like a guitar, with the nose flaring backwards diagonally to create the striking V-shape. It is believed to use 20 per cent less fuel, be more aerodynamic and still be able to carry up to 314 passengers.
The aircraft name is derived from the moniker of the electric guitar developed by Gibson in 1958.
Designs were drawn up by Delft Technology University in the Netherlands.
KLM, the Dutch aeronautical giant, is funding the development of the unique plane.
It has the wingspan of existing planes but is shaped like a guitar, with the nose flaring backwards diagonally to create the striking V-shape.
Its total width is 215ft (65m) and its length will be slightly shorter, at 180 ft (55m).
Its size makes it a comparable rival to the traditional Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787. pair of turbofan jet engines will be mounted at its rear and the design would drastically reduce both the carbon footprint of air travel and the expenditure on fuel.Pieter Elbers, the KLM chief executive, refused to reveal the exact extent of the project but it is being heralded as a potential leader in the field of 'sustainable aviation initiatives'. Its size makes it a comparable rival to the traditional Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787 and it would be able to use existing gates, hangars and runways. Its total width is 215ft (65m) and its length will be slightly shorter, at 180 ft (55m).
WHAT IS THE 'FLYING-V'?
Details of what the inside will look like are scarce but it will inevitably allow for a range of innovative seating arrangements, rooms and fittings.
The wings would host the passenger space, cargo hold, fuel tanks and all other infrastructure, it is believed
Its total width is 215ft (65m) and its length will be slightly shorter, at 180 ft (55m). Details of what the inside will look like are scarcebut it will inevitably allow for a range of innovative seating arrangements, rooms and fittings
Lightweight furniture will enable the plane to maximise its gains in fuel efficiency.
Professor Henri Werij, dean of the university's faculty of aerospace engineering, said the object was to make aviation more sustainable, according to The Times.
'New and energy-efficient aircraft designs such as the Flying-V are important, as are new forms of propulsion. Our ultimate aim is emission-free flight,' he said.
The aircraft name is derived from the moniker of the electric guitar developed by Gibson in 1958.
Lightweight furniture will enable the plane to maximise its gains in fuel efficiency. Professor Henri Werij, dean of the university's faculty of aerospace engineering, said the object was to make aviation more sustainable, according to The Times
The aircraft name is derived from the moniker of the electric guitar developed by Gibson in 1958 which was used by Chuck Berry, Brian May and Tom Petty
A pair of turbofan jet engines will be mounted at its rear and would drastically reduce both the carbon footprint of air travel and the expenditure of fuel.
In the twilight of age all things seem strange and phantasmal,
As between daylight and dark ghost-like the landscape My heart goes back to wander there,
And among the dreams of the days that were,
I find my lost youth again.
And the strange and beautiful song,
The groves are repeating it still:
"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."
I should not be withheld but that some day
into their vastness I should steal away,
Fearless of ever finding open land,
or highway where the slow wheel pours the sand...RF
No comments:
Post a Comment